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Riley Dawson
Riley Dawson is a major supporting character in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. During the second season, she is introduced as a rebellious, somewhat awkward teenage girl who is eager to befriend John Connor. However, what the Connors never realise is that Riley is actually from the post-apocalyptic future and had been brought back in time by Jesse Flores for an unauthorised mission. She was portrayed by Leven Rambin. Biography Riley Dawson was born in 2013, two years after Judgment Day in the series timeline. Like everyone else, Riley lived a life of squalor and suffering, hiding in underground Resistance bunkers and eating rats and garbage to survive. This changed when the Resistance fighter Jesse Flores approached Riley and offered her the chance of a new life in exchange for her help in Jesse's personal mission. John Connor had allowed a reprogrammed Terminator named Cameron into his inner circle, though Jesse suspected that Cameron might be manipulating him in some way. After Cameron was sent back in time on her mission to protect John's younger self, Jesse would go AWOL, taking Riley with her into the time displacement field. Arriving some time around 2008, Jesse and Riley would make a new life for themselves with Jesse arranging for Riley to be adopted by a foster family. Jesse would groom Riley for her new mission: to enter John Connor's life, gain his trust and prevent Cameron from influencing him. She was enrolled at John's school and would later meet with him while he was skipping out on English class. From then on, she would impose herself on John's day-to-day life regularly, initially drawing the ire of John's mother Sarah who was suspicious of her. As time went on, Sarah would become more accepting of Riley's presence, though Cameron regarded her as a potential threat. As their relationship progressed, Riley helped John repaint his room, at which time John noticed a bruise on her, but she denied its significance. She insisted that contrary to John's disbelief, her foster father did not give it to her. In reality, the bruise in fact came from Jesse after she came against her orders to her apartment and pleaded with her to find a place they could move in together. In response, Jesse struck Riley and ordered her back to work escorting John. Cameron similarly noticed a star tattoo on Riley and asked about it. John interrupted and Cameron demanded they talk. While they were away talking, Riley tried to commit suicide in the bathroom. John called an ambulance, which took her to the hospital. After she was treated, the staff decided to keep her there because John told them what he believed to be her reason for attempting suicide. Jesse had already heard what happened from Derek and arrived shortly after at the hospital. She took Riley to her apartment and agreed to let her stay for one hour. Some time after her suicide attempt, Riley learned that Jesse had been secretly making inquiries about her and was pretending to be a guidance counselor at the school. While there, a Department of Youth and Family Services agent came to visit the home to question Sarah and determine the safety of the home for children. During this interview, Riley was taken into the garage by Cameron who is undecided about killing her. Adding the facts together about her true purpose in Jesse's mission — that Cameron was meant to kill Riley in order for John to lose his trust in Cameron, Riley flees the Connor residence. Death In the episode "Ourselves Alone", after running from the Connors' house, Riley confronts Jesse at her apartment about how Jesse had planned to sacrifice her in order to turn John against Cameron. The two fought and Riley knocked Jesse to the floor, ready to slash her with a broken decanter, but Jesse drew her gun and shot Riley point-blank in the chest. Category:TV Characters Category:TV Deaths Category:Important Characters Category:Supporting Characters Category:Humans Category:Terminator (franchise) Category:Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Category:Murder Victims Category:Innocent Victims Category:Tragic Deaths Category:Died In Battle Category:Death by Shooting